1st LD Writethru: Greece hit by 24-hour general strike, first under Leftist gov't

Greece was hit on Thursday by a 24-hour nationwide general strike called by trade unions protesting the new round of austerity measures imposed to address a six-year debt crisis.

The mobilization, the first called under the Leftist government which came in office in January and won the snap elections again in September, paralyzed a large part of the public sector and transport services and sent thousands of workers out in the streets of Athens and other major cities.

"Abolish bailouts, give us back a decent life," shouted demonstrators rallying in front of the Greek parliament in the centre of the Greek capital, as public services, schools, museums and archaeological sites were closed and hospitals run on emergency staff.

Ships remained tied up at ports, flights were also disrupted and local media cancelled news updates as journalists joined other recession-hit Greeks who took to the streets to denounce the fresh wave of spending cuts and tax hikes promoted in exchange of further international loans under the third bailout signed this summer.

More than 20,000 demonstrators participated in the main rally in Athens according to police estimates.

The protest ended in minor scuffles between groups of anarchists and anti-riot police, as it has happened several times in recent years.

Hooded youth threw rocks and petrol bombs against police forces in front of the Finance Ministry and damaged bank branches, bus stops and cars in several incidents across a two kilometers zone.

Greece has witnessed dozens of general strikes and hundreds of minor protests since the start of the economic crisis in late 2009 and the introduction of harsh austerity measures in return for vital EU/IMF aid to stay afloat and in the euro zone.

In a first for the country, the ruling Radical Left SYRIZA party of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, urged for mass participation in Thursday's strike called by the main labor unions of public and private sector employees, ADEDY and GSEE.

The party's Labor policy office denounced the "neoliberal policies and blackmails of financial centers in Greece and abroad."

In statements to the media on the streets of Athens on Thursday the party's General Secretary Panayiotis Rigas justified the odd call, arguing that massive anti-austerity protests could be used by the government as a "pressure lever" in ongoing talks with creditors.

SYRIZA was elected on a strictly anti-bailout and anti-austerity agenda, but eventually the Left-led government made a dramatic turn and accepted a new three- year bailout to avert a looming disorderly bankruptcy and Grexit this summer.

Tsipras was reelected two months ago with the pledge to try to soften the impact of the new "painful but necessary" policies.

However, as the first sets of tough measures were approved by the parliament in recent weeks and as the government finalizes a new pension system reform and other painful policies to secure the release of more foreign funding, reactions escalated.

The Leftist government argued that there was no choice but to continue cooperating with lenders and negotiating the terms of the disbursement of the next 3 billion euro installments in coming weeks.

Greece must complete a much needed imminent recapitalization of the banking system by the end of this year to stave off its collapse and then start dialogue on debt relief and focus on measures to restore growth, cabinet ministers have repeatedly said lately.

With a quarter of the work force chronically unemployed and poverty rates at unprecedented record highs in decades, protesters on Thursday said that society cannot withstand more strain and alternative solutions need to be found.

As Thursday's march on Syntagma square ended, unionists vowed to step up actions, warning of another general strike later in November. Endit